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Well, it is sold to the insurance co. FedEx man came today and delivered two good guitars and one with the neck broked clean off and a crack in the top. ARRRG.
Oh well, that's what insurance is for now isn't it.

Oh man that sucks...

It's one reason I'm SUPER weary of shipping a guitar, I have a customer in New York and I told him this and he was non-plussed but I've heard way too many horror stories.

Hope that wasn't the one you were going to send around, at least you'll get money out it.

Keep your chin up pal...

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

Paul,

Sorry to hear that! How can that happen when the guitar is in its case? Did someone run over it with a forklift!

How do you make a claim? Do you have to give them the guitar? Any idea how long before you get your check from them? Just curious how it works.

Jeff

man paul that sucks. Good thing for insurance.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

I have NO IDEA how it happened. The box has a cut on it but the case doesn't. The rest of the box is pretty well banged up but nothing crushed. When I pulled it out one of the latches was popped on the case. When I went to re close the case it has obviously been "sprung" and has to be convinced to close.



Ouch!

Wow, That scares me too. Last year Mark Blanchard lost all his guitars returning from Newport when the plane the guitars were in crashed. Insurance paid him off but it's a lot of work down the drain.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

The Blanchard one was sad because the guys flying the plane lost their life, I think Kathy had the right approach to that one on the fret.

I don't worry about things like that, what I worry about is stuff like this or one time I got Koa from hawaii and I swear they played baseball with the package (this was the USPS).

I'm in the hunt for a shipping company that deals with valuables, even if it means more in cost. They have them for motorcyles, I'm sure we can find something for guitars...

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

Paul...you might want to check out Heritage Insurance...they do insurance for luthiers that includes shipping damage, guitars away from your shop (like at Healdsburg or on consignment in a store), other peoples guitars in your shop for repair/adjustment/etc and for your tools and wood inventory (which includes all instruments under construction). Your Homeowners Insurance won't cover those items UNLESS specifically added to the policy, and paid for! Example, my wife's wedding ring at about $7500 ( a family heirloom diamond) is specifically stated and backed up with an appraisal.

I have this coverage and it has a $500 deductible, so I only buy $500 worth of insurance from FedEx to meet the deductible.

Meanwhile, it looks like your guitar sustained a compression fracture...the entire package dropped from a nice height onto a solid surface. The sudden stop is what does it and often the packing box shows little evidence of damage, yet the contents has serious "whiplash" injuries from the inertia of the fall.

Get in FedEx's face in a nice, polite, yet forceful, manner and don't let them snow you. Get names and times of all you talk to and document every conversation. If someone starts to give you static, politely ask for their supervisor. Remenber, it's not an irreplaceable antique one-of-a-kind musical instrument as you can build another one just like it. That's often a ploy they try to skip out on the insurance payoff.

Which guitar was it Paul? I can't tell from the pic.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Hank, I talked to Joan (From Heritage) a couple of weeks before I left and bought a policy just as you spoke of. So I'm not too worried about getting paid for this. I'm only after FedEx for the $500 deductable so I'm hoping they won't be too freaky about paying that. Joan says that the insurance company often goes after the shipper for more money but they have the lawyers and such so they can do that.
To anyone reading this: I would HIGHLY recomend giving Heritage a call. If you shop burns down right now, you home owner's insurance most likely won't cover any of the guitar stuff because you've made money at it and now it's a business expense. In fact my home owner's agent said that many companies won't pay anything if the cause was from a business related product. ie, you side bender burnt down the shop which caught the house on fire. So if you don't call Heritage please, please call your agent and ask LOTS of specific questions.

That is a real bummer Paul. But Thank God that he saw fit to have you sign up for the Heritage Ins. Just wondering...what kind of case - brand was it in? Not that any case might have faired any better. Just curious.

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Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

It was in an Ameritage case but I don't think that's the problem as the case is virtually un scathed. I think Hank hit it on the head when he said it was a shear drop.

[QUOTE=Pwoolson] Hank, I talked to Joan (From Heritage) a couple of weeks before I left and bought a policy just as you spoke of. So I'm not too worried about getting paid for this. I'm only after FedEx for the $500 deductable so I'm hoping they won't be too freaky about paying that. Joan says that the insurance company often goes after the shipper for more money but they have the lawyers and such so they can do that.
To anyone reading this: I would HIGHLY recomend giving Heritage a call. If you shop burns down right now, you home owner's insurance most likely won't cover any of the guitar stuff because you've made money at it and now it's a business expense. In fact my home owner's agent said that many companies won't pay anything if the cause was from a business related product. ie, you side bender burnt down the shop which caught the house on fire. So if you don't call Heritage please, please call your agent and ask LOTS of specific questions. [/QUOTE]


Can you say FORTUITOUS?

Paul,

I was bummed out enough when you mentioned the guitar was injured during shipping but the picture just about made me loose my lunch!! I feel for you man! It is replacable but I know how much of you goes into every project like this and that is hard to replace.

On the 'scientific' note, I was interested to note where the neck broke off. Another debate for dovetail vs bolt on tenon? Although, guitars were not meant to fly and come to a sudden stop.

Hang in there!

Shane

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Canada

    I had a guitar with loads of inlay and abalone around it that I had consigned at a shop. The shop had a policy of sending the guitars to potential buyers for trial periods of a few days which isn't unusual or unreasonable and this one was on its way across the country when it was smashed by UPS abd was shipped uninsured. The guy who received the guitar took great pleasure in having the opportunity to let me know of the guitar's plight and couldn;t wait to see how things heated up between me and the shop owner as thiongs unraveled. He's proven himself to be that kind of person many time since and especially when it comes to me and Omega Guitars. I don't even think that the shop owner knew that they had been betrayed by the recipient as he obviously tried to turn up the heat on a tough situation. It was a strange and uncomfortable situation for both the shop involved and myself, but I wanted both of us to walk out without too much of a loss. I finally got paid a fraction of the list price on the guitar and much less than I would have been able to sell it for. They were very gracious and we both walked away pretty much unscathed, but with a bit more caution when it comes to shipping...hard knocks are great teachers.

     Insure for the full value of the guitar you're shipping for your own sake and declare the value at your list price current to the ship date, not at the order date for the guitar.

   Any guitar is subject to rediculous amounts of abuse while in the hands of people who care more about getting their route covered quickly and back to the depot for as early a quit time as possible than about your guitar that you've invested many hours and sometimes thousands of dollars worth of materials in. I've watched UPS guys actually throw packages onto the truck right after my telling tham that it was very fragile. Even though it was going by plane overnight, I guess they figured they'd give the package its initial 20 foot flight by hand.

Pack them tight inside and outside the case and loosen the strings fully. It's also a good idea to ship overnight to keep them out of as many hands as possible and to minimize the vehicle transfers on the way.

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

Can anyone post Heritage's premiums/coverage?

1-800-289-8837 http://www.heritage-ins-services.com/ is the web address Google gave me. Terry Stowell38589.9254976852

Terry, I wouldn't feel comfortable quoting my premium as it was based on my needs and yours might be different. Talk to Joan Gallo (tell her I sent you she's a great gal) she'll have a number for you by the end of the conversation. I pretty much guarantee that it will be much cheaper than any large insurance company's quote.

Did you tell us which guitar it was... it wasn't the sapele one was it?   

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

My household insurance covers my guitars and building stuff as I'm only a hobby builder, but wouldn't cover it if I sold as much as one instrument, but I have to declare any item valued at more than ?500. It may be different in the US.

When I sent the value list to them, I had a letter back saying that they would only insure my 3 pre-war Martins if they were stored in a Bank Vault! I've got separate All Risks cover on them now!

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

[QUOTE=Kevin Gallagher] Any guitar is subject to rediculous amounts of abuse while in the hands of people who care more about getting their route covered quickly and back to the depot for as early a quit time as possible than about your guitar that you've invested many hours and sometimes thousands of dollars worth of materials in. I've watched UPS guys actually throw packages onto the truck right after my telling tham that it was very fragile. Even though it was going by plane overnight, I guess they figured they'd give the package its initial 20 foot flight by hand.

Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars[/QUOTE]


I'm afraid Mr. Gallagher is totally correct. I drove for UPS (during what seems like another lifetime) for over a year, and can tell you from personal experience that the "fragile" nature of the parcel you are handling, as well as the words "fragile" pasted all over the box, NEVER enters the minds of the drivers. In fact, and I hate to say this, I have seen the loaders intentionally throw fragile packages just for fun. Now, granted, this was ground freight and not overnight, but it was COMMON to handle fragile packages roughly.

Your guitars are loaded according to the way the box will come off the truck per the delivery route. The earliest route stops are loaded onto the floor of the truck, and the driver works their way up the shelves, clearing room to walk as they unload. As the truck bounces along (and they do bounce a lot), lots of things happen: packages routinely fall from the top onto the packages on the bottom, drivers walk on top of packages to get over them, drivers throw/kick packages out of the way in order to read addresses on other packages, drivers drop packages, packages fall off hand trucks...the list is endless. I even had routes where I opened the back door and threw the packages onto the sidewalk, per the instructions of the business.

In my opinion, overkill packaging, overnight or 2nd day air, will call at the UPS/FedEx/USPS window, and luck, are about the only defenses you have against the periodic, psycho driver/loader from h*ll. Personally, I liked the idea of the clam-shell case that I've seen so much lately. Seems like a fairly good idea to me.

Bill

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.